 Army of thousands takes on locusts
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-02 07:37 HOHHOT: Inner Mongolia has been mobilizing 33,000 people, including 1,100 technical staff, over the past two weeks in a move to wipe out a plague of locusts, Gao Wenyuan, the regional Grassland Work Office director, told the Xinhua News Agency yesterday. Five regional specialized teams were also sent to the affected areas to help eradicate this ruthlessly destructive pest. About 1.3 million hectares of grassland in the region's three areas close to Beijing are affected, and another 560,000 hectares has been severely hit. "The year's first generation of locusts in these areas have already hatched," Gao said. "The harm they do is all too obvious." The locust menace afflicts large swathes of grassland every year in Inner Mongolia. Grassland in the autonomous region constitutes one fifth - 78 million hectares - of the country's total. The grassland region is expected to encounter an onslaught of second-generation locusts next month. But there have been no reports in recent years of any swarms of locusts in the region flying to Beijing. The regional government has set up a temporary coordination team to jointly eradicate locusts in the three areas. A special fund of 4 million yuan ($570,000), as well as a stock of pesticides and spraying equipment, has been allocated to the plagued areas, said Gao. The region has 200 tonnes of pest control chemicals, more than 100,000 large and small spray guns and has also booked four planes for locust eradication. Three specialized locust control teams have been set up in Xilingol, Ulanqab and Chifeng - the three plagued areas in central and eastern Inner Mongolia. Bao Xiang, director of the Xilingol League grassland work station, told Xinhua that locust affected grassland had increased by 200,000 hectares in the 10 days to June 25 to a total 530,000 hectares, half of which had suffered serious damage. The teams sprayed 40 tonnes of pesticides and mobilized 126 large and small spray guns for locust eradication on 240,000 hectares of grassland, Bao said. Baotou in central Inner Mongolia rented two planes to spray 60,000 hectares of grassland. Herdsmen have also joined the operation. Siqin, a Mongolian living in the south of Xilingol, said that each of her 50-odd chickens is capable of eating more than 100 locusts a day. Many herding families in the region raise chickens and ducks to help get rid of locusts from their grasslands. Xinhua (China Daily 07/02/2008 page3) |
